November is Doom -Gloombound : "Dreaming Delusion"

Doom is not typically thought of as Norway's primary metal export, but there is some. This album starts off with an impressively ominous tone. It hits all the sonic notes you might want from this branch of despairing doom, but those get more fully flushed out by adding layers of nuanced melody on the second song. The jeyboards play a larger role as the span of atmosphere expands. There are moments of interesting dynamic whiplash when they transition from melancholic melodies layered over a morose funeral march to a more rabid death metal fury, finding a middle ground with syncopated breakdowns. The vocals are very deliberate here, which plays to their favor. 

"Luminary Dissolution" is a little more like death doom that leans more solidly into the barrage of death metal aggression with just enough atmosphere applied to not seem out of place, but not all that engaging either. The fifteen-minute title track is a more interesting blend of sorrowful sounds that are both melodic and powerfully anguished. Everything breaks down to a plodding bass line break, which would have been the opportunity to go darker, but they launched into a solo and got more predictably metal. A band like Evoken would have taken the chance to explore the mood that elevates them over these guys, who are capable but still boxed into metal conventions more often than not at this juncture in the album. Can they rise above this?

Despite being listed as bonus tracks, the last two songs on my copy are going to count for the purpose of this review. The first of them, "Pulled Toward Sepulchre Slumber". finds the keyboards rising to elevate the mood to a darker grandeur, though the more traditional death doom sounds are the heart of this one.  It follows what most of the more scathing funeral doom bands with a slight black metal influence might down, though never building to the rabid pace. "Astral Exhaltation" carries a more mournful sound. The organ sound is laid on thick, and clean vocals help add more of a mood as they chime in likea distant choir. I will give this album an 8, they are a strong band with a great deal of potential once they get the metal essentials out of their system and become more willing to step into a wider scope. 

pst568